Ever since watching Christian Bale tear his way through sex workers, homeless people, and even some of his own coworkers, I've been convinced that people working on Wall Street are psychopaths. Reading American Psycho for myself only entrenched me in this thought process further.
Okay, not entirely, but the 2008 recession didn't help matters.
After Redditor newaccountwhodis asked the online community, "What careers or jobs attract the most psychopaths?" people weighed in with their experiences.
"It included..."
There's been a study on this. It included corporate executives but also surgeons and chefs (both of whose work tends not to require not much actual socialization, or at least only with subordinates, not customers who have to be greeted pleasantly).
"It's known..."
Sales. It's known that psychopaths excel in sales because they do whatever they can to get ahead, learned about it in Psych in my undergrad and it always stuck with me.
"The higher you advance..."
Banking. The higher you advance in the hierarchy, the less empathy you have. Exponentially.
"To get away with..."
One career that doesn't immediately come to mind but makes a ton of sense when you think about it is charity worker, especially if you get to management.
What do psychopaths want? To get away with abusing power over others. What better way to do that then to surround yourself with powerless people who desperately need whatever the charity is providing, and typical charity workers that are extremely helpful, caring people who are most inclined to want to see the good in others.
I have a friend with PTSD from being abused by his boss and being forced to witness his boss abuse the people who needed the charity while working at a nonprofit, and his therapist told him his story is surprisingly common.
"I'm talking about..."
Government management
And I'm not talking about politicians. I'm talking about your department managers and execs. I've worked for some insane people.
"I've had a number of interviews..."
I'm going into the aerospace industry as an engineer soon and I feel like a lot of those engineers who work for defense companies building weapons that kill people are just different. I've had a number of interviews with defense industry people and every time the interviewer puts me off with the ways they describe their work building bombs and missiles and s*** that definitely blow up human beings. Maybe it's the way they always frame it as "supporting the warfighter" and how their products are "innovative kill chain technologies" and s***. I would bet money that the defense industry has a measurably higher rate of psychopaths.
"I have worked with people..."
Overseas military contractors. I have worked with people that I swear had bodies in their basements or people tied up down there.
"They're generally useless..."
Middle management. They're incompetent jerks that can't make it to actual positions of power, they sit and tread in their little puddle of victory. They're generally useless and have no real use other than being a toilet for upper management.
"If you ever wonder..."
No bankers? Man, these guys always slip under the radar.
If you ever wonder why the U.S. government and economy is a cruel, rigged mess, it's bankers, they're major shareholders in every public company and major creditors to the rest... every major political decision goes through them. They are the system.
"I'm not sure..."
Nurses. I'm not sure if it's because people just want the pay or what but nurses can be so evil. Like the ones beating on old people and s***.
"The real investment banking..."
Investment banking. The real investment banking, not retail bankers. The bankers who will screw your mother for a penny, and advise your pension fund to liquidate and file for bankruptcy so he can get paid to go on his best friend's stag-do.
"One just recently..."
Lying, cruel, misogynistic, arrogant, nationalistic, brutish, con-artist, fake billionaires, with dreams of becoming POTUS. One just recently achieved that goal.
"I can confidently say..."
I would say nursing and then teaching hands down. I can confidently say that this comes from a place of experience.
"Sales is a job..."
Sales is a job that requires changing one's personality to mirror the potential buyer which is a trait of psychopaths.
"You need to make a decision on the fly..."
Politics. Psychopaths actually excel in politics. You need to make decision on the fly, some of which can possibly hurt others. Empathy is not a strong suit in politics. You cant be thinking of everyone.
"Almost every murder mystery..."
Hedge fund trading, maybe? Almost every murder mystery I've watched where there's a hedge fund trader involved has turned out to be a psychopath of sorts.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
@thekalenallen/Threads
U.S. Mint
